MillerCoors LLC filed a civil lawsuit against a former employee alleging that he stole $13.4 million over 11 years from the Chicago-based beer maker, according to a civil complaint filed in a Milwaukee County Circuit Court on Aug. 28.

The complaint says David Colletti of Oconomowoc did not act alone in the scheme. Colletti is accused in the complaint of “acting as the inside man” by creating 15 shell corporations with two former employees, his wife Pamela Colletti and nine other friends, and then submitting fraudulent invoices to Miller Brewing Co. and subsequently MillerCoors LLC. Chicago-based MillerCoors, a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors formed in 2008, operates a major brewery and has administrative offices on Milwaukee’s west side.

“MillerCoors is pursuing a civil suit against Dave Colletti, another former employee and a variety of former vendors in order to recover the significant dollars that were stolen from our company," the company said in a statement. "We don’t comment on the specifics of active litigation, but we were compelled to file this suit in order to protect our interest by attempting to recover the money.”

David Colletti worked for Miller Brewing Co. and MillerCoors for 31 years, according to the complaint. He allegedly created the corporations, and then split the money with friends, co-workers and former colleagues who are named as co-defendants, the complaint alleges.

The scheme allegedly started when David Colletti became the senior director of national on-premise chain accounts in 2002, according to the complaint.

In his position, Colletti turned in fraudulent invoices for bills filed by the co-defendants for work that the complaint alleges were never performed. Those invoices were paid through an internal budget that was controlled by Colletti, according to the complaint.

The complaint said an employee in MillerCoors’ accounting department realized in September 2013 that one of the shell corporations was owned by MaryAnn Rozenberg of Dousman, a co-defendant who was Colletti’s administrative assistant for years. The matter was turned over to MillerCoors' internal audit group.

The complaint also names 15 shell companies as defendants in the case. All 28 defendants are named as conspiracy defendants.

MillerCoors, which is being represented by Patrick Nolan with Quarles & Brady LLP, is seeking punitive damages.